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Jail, caning for man who molested girlfriend's sleeping mother

Woman crouching on the ground.
Woman crouching on the ground. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — While his girlfriend’s mother was sleeping, a man got aroused by her exposed breast and molested the woman.

After the man, who is in his mid-20s and has a baby with the victim’s daughter, woke the victim up, he asked to have sex with her.

On Thursday (21 January), the man was sentenced to nine months’ jail and one stroke of the cane on one charge of molesting the woman, who is in her late-30s. He pleaded guilty to the charge.

No parties in this case can be named due to a gag order protecting the victim’s identity.

On 9 March last year, the man arrived at his girlfriend’s mother’s house at about 6.50am. His girlfriend, her mother, and the couple’s baby were the only ones present at the time.

At about 8am, the girlfriend’s mother went to sleep in her bedroom as she had been caring for the baby through the night. At about 11.30am, the man entered her room to take a pillow. His entry was witnessed by his girlfriend, who noted that he remained in the room for a while.

In the room, the man noticed that the victim was asleep and saw that her left breast was exposed. He molested her bare breast.

He then molested her other breast while saying “mother” three times, before touching her mouth. His calls woke the woman, who saw that his penis was exposed.

“The accused then told the victim ‘Let’s have sex’... or words to that effect and the victim responded ‘I don’t want’... or words to that effect,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Tin Shu Min.

When the victim asked where her daughter and grandchild were, the man replied that they were sleeping outside.

The woman then pretended to go back to sleep and he left the room. Shocked by the man’s actions, the woman made a police report at about 12.35pm. The man was arrested.

Abuse of trust

The victim began to attend sessions at the Institute of Mental Health from 3 June last year as the incident caused her to feel depressed. While her mental condition has improved, she is still traumatised by the incident and fears that the man will return.

Citing the degree of brazenness the man had shown, and the vulnerability of the sleeping victim, DPP Tin sought the sentence that was eventually imposed by the court.

“To some extent, the accused had abused the trust placed in him. Because he was in a relationship with the (victim’s daughter), the victim had allowed the accused to have entry and free access to her home, and no one looked askance at him for entering the victim’s bedroom. In approaching and abusing the victim, the accused had exploited that trust,” said the prosecution.

For molest, the man could have been jailed up to two years, or fined, or caned, or with any combination of the penalties.

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